Sometimes we talk about “being a light” like it’s some kind of spiritual CrossFit challenge. Come on, everyone! Shine brighter, try harder, carry everyone’s load, and don’t you dare say no or someone might think you’re selfish.
But here’s the truth: a light is meant to help you see, not make you sprint until you collapse.
In today’s front porch conversation, I&#8217;m digging in to:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>What it actually means to be a light (and why it’s more about presence than performance)</li>
<li>Why we confuse shining with people-pleasing (and end up setting ourselves on fire)</li>
<li>How guilt, obligation, and “being the reliable one” burn us out</li>
<li>What we really admire when someone “feels like a light” (spoiler: it’s not perfection)</li>
<li>Why saying no is sometimes the most generous thing you can do</li>
<li>How to shine in a world that runs on urgency, noise, and overwhelm</li>
</ul>
If you’ve ever wondered why you’re exhausted even though you&#8217;re “doing all the right things,” or if you’ve ever felt guilty for wanting a break… well, friends, this one’s for you.
Pull up a chair. Grab your coffee. Let’s talk about being a light&#8230; without becoming kindling.
12-10-25 Amy Dingmann
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CMMXTJ">Grab a copy of my newest book, Peace, Love, and Bacon</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-find-more-goodies-from-a-farmish-kind-of-life">FIND MORE GOODIES FROM A FARMISH KIND OF LIFE:</h2>
Where I’m at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelifesteaders">Facebook page</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/+xHbWrSuNobdjNTE5">Telegram chat group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/D262tb6NVc">Discord group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@farmishlife">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ61D3_lna-LCqfWDDDUUw">YouTube</a>
Books I Wrote:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Dingmann/author/B00AU97B9E">Non-fiction books</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://shayraystevens.com/">Fiction books</a>
Join my Facebook group:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/984055179856439">The Get By Guys and Gals Group</a>

<description>Today we're talking about how to be a light and how that doesn't mean turning yourself into kindling.</description>

Today we're talking about how to be a light and how that doesn't mean turning yourself into kindling.

333: Be A Light But Don’t Burn Yourself Out

Since going back to work outside the home, I’ve noticed something: so many folks live in constant emergency mode. They&#8217;re rushing, panicking, and treating every single task like life or death. Like every single thing is something that has to be solved or done right now.
So on the front porch today, I&#8217;m giving you my thoughts on:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li><a href="https://afarmishkindoflife.com/331-priority-isnt-plural/">Why “priority” used to be a singular word</a></li>
<li>The difference between a real emergency and a manufactured one</li>
<li>How prepping, homesteading, zero-debt life, and hustle culture all created urgency addiction</li>
<li>Why we feel more important when we’re stressed and overcommitted</li>
<li>How to stop treating your life like a five-alarm fire</li>
<li>The freedom that comes from saying “no… it doesn’t have to be today”</li>
<li>And how to choose what actually matters in a world that tells you everything matters equally</li>
</ul>
This episode is NOT about laziness, minimalism, or quitting real responsibility. It’s about clarity, courage, boundaries, and most importantly, breathing room.
12-3-25 Amy Dingmann
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CMMXTJ">Grab a copy of my newest book, Peace, Love, and Bacon</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-find-more-goodies-from-a-farmish-kind-of-life">FIND MORE GOODIES FROM A FARMISH KIND OF LIFE:</h2>
Where I’m at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelifesteaders">Facebook page</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/+xHbWrSuNobdjNTE5">Telegram chat group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/D262tb6NVc">Discord group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@farmishlife">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ61D3_lna-LCqfWDDDUUw">YouTube</a>
Books I Wrote:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Dingmann/author/B00AU97B9E">Non-fiction books</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://shayraystevens.com/">Fiction books</a>
Join my Facebook group:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/984055179856439">The Get By Guys and Gals Group</a>

<description>Since going back to work outside the home, I’ve noticed something: so many of folks live in constant emergency mode. They're rushing, panicking, and treating every single task like life or death. Like every single thing is something that has to be solved or done right now...</description>

Since going back to work outside the home, I’ve noticed something: so many of folks live in constant emergency mode. They're rushing, panicking, and treating every single task like life or death. Like every single thing is something that has to be solv...

Since going back to work outside the home, I’ve noticed something: so many of folks live in constant emergency mode. They're rushing, panicking, and treating every single task like life or death. Like every single thing is something that has to be solved or done right now...

332: Life is NOT an emergency

I recently read that back in the 1400s, the word priority had no plural form. You simply couldn&#8217;t have &#8220;priorities&#8221;, no one had heard of the concept. It wasn&#8217;t until the early 1900s that we decided we needed more than one most important thing in our life and decided to pluralize the word.
Today on the front porch I&#8217;m talking about:
<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>why it&#8217;s hard to choose the priority when so many good things need our attention,</li>
<li>when everything gets equal weight and equal urgency, we lose the ability to see the one thing that deserves the most of us, and</li>
<li>doing everything is often the easiest way to avoid doing the right thing.</li>
</ul>
Do you know what your priority is? And why is it so hard to answer that question? And if you actually do know what your priority is, are you living in a way that your priority is obvious to others?
11-26-25 Amy Dingmann
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CMMXTJ">Grab a copy of my newest book, Peace, Love, and Bacon</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-find-more-goodies-from-a-farmish-kind-of-life">FIND MORE GOODIES FROM A FARMISH KIND OF LIFE:</h2>
Where I’m at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelifesteaders">Facebook page</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/+xHbWrSuNobdjNTE5">Telegram chat group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/D262tb6NVc">Discord group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@farmishlife">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ61D3_lna-LCqfWDDDUUw">YouTube</a>
Books I Wrote:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Dingmann/author/B00AU97B9E">Non-fiction books</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://shayraystevens.com/">Fiction books</a>
Join my Facebook group:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/984055179856439">The Get By Guys and Gals Group</a>

<description>Did you know the word "priority" didn't have a plural form for over 500 years? We're not supposed to have more than one "most important" thing.</description>

Did you know the word "priority" didn't have a plural form for over 500 years? We're not supposed to have more than one "most important" thing.

331: Priority isn’t plural

Sometimes gratitude doesn’t look like sunshine and sparkles. Sometimes it looks like realizing the things that used to wreck you&#8230; kind of don’t anymore.
Today&#8217;s episode is about perspective. It&#8217;s about catching yourself in those moments where you’re annoyed, frustrated, or inconvenienced, and remembering there was a time you couldn’t have handled what now feels like a minor blip.
From a broken smartwatch that barely made me blink, to the grocery store checkout line where I complain about prices but can actually pay for the groceries, this is about the quiet shift of realizing you’ve moved forward without even noticing.
This isn&#8217;t about pretending life isn’t hard. Because it still is in different ways. We all know that STUFF still happens all the time. Instead, today&#8217;s episode is just a reminder that in many ways, our “hard” used to look a lot different, and you know what? That’s something worth being grateful for.
11-18-25 Amy Dingmann
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CMMXTJ">Grab a copy of my newest book, Peace, Love, and Bacon</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-find-more-goodies-from-a-farmish-kind-of-life">FIND MORE GOODIES FROM A FARMISH KIND OF LIFE:</h2>
Where I’m at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelifesteaders">Facebook page</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/+xHbWrSuNobdjNTE5">Telegram chat group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/D262tb6NVc">Discord group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@farmishlife">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ61D3_lna-LCqfWDDDUUw">YouTube</a>
Books I Wrote:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Dingmann/author/B00AU97B9E">Non-fiction books</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://shayraystevens.com/">Fiction books</a>
Join my Facebook group:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/984055179856439">The Get By Guys and Gals Group</a>

<description>Sometimes gratitude doesn’t look like sunshine and sparkles. Sometimes it looks like realizing the things that used to wreck you... kind of don’t anymore.</description>

Sometimes gratitude doesn’t look like sunshine and sparkles. Sometimes it looks like realizing the things that used to wreck you... kind of don’t anymore.

330: Perspective, Gratitude, and a Broken Smartwatch

Ever notice how some people fall apart when life gets messy, but others suddenly find this weird, laser-focused calm? 
I&#8217;ve been reminded, especially over the last month, that I’m definitely the latter.
This week, I’m on the front porch talking about what happens when the world gets chaotic and your brain actually works better. I dig into why some of us think more clearly when everything’s going sideways, how that might actually be a gift (not something that requires a diagnosis), and where the danger line sits between “crisis competence” and creating chaos just to feel in control.
Because maybe peace doesn’t always look like quiet. Maybe sometimes it looks like competence and &#8220;let&#8217;s get this done.&#8221;
11-11-25 Amy Dingmann
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F5CMMXTJ">Grab a copy of my newest book, Peace, Love, and Bacon</a>
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-find-more-goodies-from-a-farmish-kind-of-life">FIND MORE GOODIES FROM A FARMISH KIND OF LIFE:</h2>
Where I’m at:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/thelifesteaders">Facebook page</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://t.me/+xHbWrSuNobdjNTE5">Telegram chat group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://discord.gg/D262tb6NVc">Discord group</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@farmishlife">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ61D3_lna-LCqfWDDDUUw">YouTube</a>
Books I Wrote:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Amy-Dingmann/author/B00AU97B9E">Non-fiction books</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://shayraystevens.com/">Fiction books</a>
Join my Facebook group:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/984055179856439">The Get By Guys and Gals Group</a>

<description>Ever notice how some people fall apart when life gets messy, but others suddenly find this weird, laser-focused calm? Let's talk about that.</description>

Ever notice how some people fall apart when life gets messy, but others suddenly find this weird, laser-focused calm? Let's talk about that.

329: Calm as a Chaos Manager

Listen to motivational misfit Amy Dingmann get real about life and how to live a good one, whether you live on a farm or not. 

A Farmish Kind of Life

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